Indian U-23 team arrive in Doha

Doha: The Indian U-23 football team arrived here on Saturday from Singapore to participate in the AFC U23 qualification tournament which begins at the Al Sadd Stadium on July 19.

The team was received at the Hamad International Airport by members of the Qatar India Association.

India are clubbed with hosts Qatar, Syria and Turkmenistan in Group C and kick off their campaign against Syria on the opening day.

The AFC U-23 competition is always a tough nut to crack for the beleaguered Indian side, who had failed twice to cross the qualification rounds in 2013 and 2015 since the tournament was started in 2014.

Before coming here, the team, coached by Stephen Constantine, had won and lost one against Singapore in pre-tournament friendlies.